Family goes out on limb to save tree in Galien

Daughter camps in maple; AEP delays cutting for now.

Daughter camps in maple; AEP delays cutting for now.

November 29, 2006|YaSHEKIA SMALLS Tribune Staff Writer

GALIEN -- Maybe she won't go as far as "Kill Bill" actress Daryl Hannah did in June when she climbed a tree at a protest to save an urban farm in southern Los Angeles before being jailed. But bundled in blankets and accompanied by a mug of hot chocolate Tuesday morning, Brianna Schmitz certainly wasn't afraid of entertaining the idea while reclining in her family's sugar maple tree. "I'm not arrested ... yet," the 19-year-old Southwestern Michigan College student said while occupying the tree at the Grant Street home she shares with her parents. She and her mother, Kim Schmitz, protested the scheduled removal of their front-yard maple Tuesday as crews from Asplundh Tree Expert Co. arrived on Grant Street about 7 a.m. No trees went down on that street Tuesday. "They're in the tree," said David Mayne, corporate communications spokesman for American Electric Power, which contracted with Asplundh to trim branches and remove some of the village's trees to clear power lines. "They climbed up in the tree and refused to let us cut it," Mayne said, "and certainly we're not going to do any work while they're up in the tree. That would put their lives in jeopardy." When Leon Wadsworth, general foreman for Asplundh, showed up on Grant Street on Tuesday morning, he wasn't surprised at all to see Brianna in the tree above a sign that read "Cut or Trim -- Not Remove." "It happens all the time," Wadsworth said while trimming a neighbor's tree on the corner of Grant and First streets. "People always have concerns about trimming trees." AEP officials showed up at the Schmitzes' home Monday morning to explain that the 50-year-old sugar maple tree was slated to come down Tuesday -- one of between six and 10 trees to be cut down on the east side of the street this fall, Mayne said. The decision was made based on a Galien Village Council resolution signed in the early 1990s that allows AEP to trim or cut trees under its power lines, so as long as the company informs the village two weeks in advance, council President Clarence Marsh Jr. said. The Schmitzes' tree is located on a tree lawn that includes the area between the road and the sidewalk, on village property. About 15 trees must come down villagewide this season, Marsh estimated. "I'm not going to speculate on what's going to be necessary," Mayne said. "The tree is in the village property, and we'll just have to involve the authorities if this continues." Crews spent Tuesday working on other trees in the village of Galien, Mayne said, with the Schmitzes' tree slated to be cut down later this week or next week instead. Brianna Schmitz, who climbed the maple at 6 a.m., was determined to remain in the tree during Tuesday's 60-degree temperatures and is planning to park her red 1992 Chevrolet Beretta in front of the tree the remainder of the week in protest. She said even her professor e-mailed her and told her, "Well, at least you have a nice day to sit in your tree." Their neighbor, Lisa Hicks, is also parking her car in front of two trees slated to come down in her yard. Her 16-year-old son Jordan helped with the tree protest Tuesday. "I guess nobody else wants to open up a mouth, so it's up to me I guess," Kim Schmitz said. "But the support I've been getting from neighbors tells me they don't want this to happen either, and they just don't know what to do." Schmitz, who's now taken two days off from work to handle the protest, said she is most concerned with how the trees' removal will damage property values in the area. "I've been trying since August to get them to understand that my property values are so low now," Schmitz said, "and this isn't making it any better." Marsh said his greatest concern was that simply trimming her tree would cause it to be heavy on the side nearest the house. If the tree were to fall on her home, the village would have to pay for damages, he said. But Schmitz said she believed her tree was targeted first Tuesday because of her vocal opposition this fall. "They knew I was doing this," she said. "But I think they were planning on taking the tree down before I could contact (the media), so that's why they showed up (Monday)." Staff writer YaShekia Smalls: yassmalls@sbtinfo.com (269) 687-7001